Posted: 11/10/04
By Cynthia Scott
When the history of the 2004 election is written, let it be known that the little folks spoke, too.
Just as adults went to the polls in record numbers in Chisago County, so too did the kids, courtesy of Kids Voting, a nonpartisan effort to instill in children a strong voting ethic by actually giving them the opportunity to accompany their parents to the polls and vote.
Kids Voting is a nationwide project begun in 1988. It came to Minnesota in 1994, and this is its first year in Chisago County.
A collaboration of North Branch Community Education and the League of Women Voters, Kids Voting provided kid-sized voting booths and special kid ballots at 10 Chisago County precincts: North Branch north and south, North Branch township, Amador, Fish Lake, Lent, Sunrise townships, Harris, Stacy and Oxford township.
But going to the polls was only half of the effort. Classroom instruction in citizenship preceded the kidsí trip to the polling place.
And following the vote, 26 volunteers from North Branch High School National Honor Society collected the kidsí ballots from the precincts and gathered at the American Legion to count them.
The project was for kids in grades 3 - 8 from throughout the county. According to Jeanne Leland of North Branch Community Education, there are 1,900 students that age in the county. Of that number, 919 cast a vote on election day ñ a robust number that pleased organizers.
©ECM Post Review
6448 Main Street
North Branch, MN 55056
Telephone: 651-674-7025
Fax: 651-674-7026
E-mail: editor.postreview@ecm-inc.com